FORT HERKIMER

NEW YORK

Near
this spot was the site of Fort Herkimer, built in 1756, around the
second stone house of Johan Jost Herkimer, father of General Nicholas
Herkimer. Here Nicholas passed his boyhood and here he rested when
returning wounded from the Battle of Oriskany.

Placed by Astenrogen Chapter,
Daughters of the American Revolution of Little Falls, June 14, 1912.

(40-Mile Route
Marker)

Fort Herkimer Church formed the central defense of Fort Herkimer throughout the
Revolutionary War. During the war, a swivel gun was mounted atop the church
tower and a wall of logs surrounded the church.

After being wounded at the Battle of Oriskany, General Herkimer was brought to
the church by boat from Old Fort Schuyler. He stayed overnight on August 6, 1777
and was moved to his home the next day.

A year after the battle of Oriskany, Joseph Brant and a large party of Tories
led a raid south of Fort Herkimer into the area that was called the German
Flatts. A party of four American scouts came in contact with the raiders. Three
were killed, but one scout, John Adam Helmer, was able to escape and warn the
settlers in the area. All found shelter at Fort Dayton and Herkimer. There was
no loss of life, but much loss of property.

Here
was born Nicholas Herkimer, eldest son of Johan Jost Herkimer. He
became a general in the Revolutionary War and the hero of Oriskany.
The town and county of Herkimer were named in his honor.

Placed by Colonel
William Feeter Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution of Little
Falls, June 14, 1912.

(40-Mile Route Marker)

After 1781, Fort Stanwix was no longer garrisoned and Forts Dayton and Herkimer
became the most western strongholds in the Mohawk Valley. In July 1782, another
war party of almost 600 Tories and Indians raided the area south of the fort.
Most of the settlers were able to find shelter and the raid was driven off from
the fort.

In February 1783, in the dead of winter, Colonel Marinus Willett led the
ill-fated attempt on Fort Ontario in Oswego from Fort Herkimer. The weather led
to the failure of the expedition and the party of about 500 returned to the
fort.

Later that year, in July, Col. Willett greeted General George Washington at Fort
Herkimer during a tour of the Mohawk Valley. Washington ordered that Fort
Herkimer be set-up as a supply depot for the western forts, including Fort
Detroit and Fort Niagara. These forts would eventually fall into American hands
after the peace treaty with the British..